Haaland confirmed by Senate
She is 1st American Indian to lead Interior Department
WASHINGTON — As thousands of American Indians watched online, U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., was confirmed as secretary of the Interior Department by a 51-to40 vote in the Senate, making her the first American Indian to lead an agency that manages a vast portfolio of federal land and the oil and mineral wealth that lies beneath it.
Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and whose family ties in the country can be traced back 35 generations, will take control of a department that also oversees Indian Country, 574 federally recognized American Indian and Alaskan Native communities.
Four Republicans crossed party lines to vote for Haaland. The close vote reflected broad support from Democrats and opposition from most Republicans.
Many Republicans decried Haaland’s support for the Green New Deal, which calls for significantly lowering fossil fuel emissions, and her opposition to an expansion of oil and gas drilling on public land, saying the positions disqualified her to lead an agency that has traditionally promoted those ventures.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., recalled how Republicans called Haaland’s views on managing public land extreme and radical during her committee confirmation hearing. Meanwhile, Smith said, some of those same senators posed little opposition to Tom Vilsack’s nomination to run the Agriculture Department despite many of his views being similar to Haaland’s.
“I just find it difficult to take these Republican attacks at face value,” Smith said. “Once again a woman, and a woman of color, is being held to a different standard, and we need to call it.”
Two GOP senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, broke with their caucus days before the vote to announce their support for Haaland.
Murkowski said she would vote to make history despite her strong reservations about the impact a secretary with Haaland’s views could have on her oil-rich state.
Native Alaskans make up about 20% of her state’s population, according to the 2014 census update, and hundreds of women submitted an open letter in the Anchorage Daily News in support of Haaland. Alaska’s other senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, joined Murkowski in voting for Haaland.
Collins praised Haaland’s deep knowledge of American Indian affairs and said the nominee gained her trust and her vote during a meeting.
The significance of the achievement moved Crystal EchoHawk to tears. “I get emotional right now because our children will know that anything’s possible,” said EchoHawk, executive director of Illuminative, a group that uses pop culture and media to dispel American Indian stereotypes. “We turn on the TV, we look at the news, and we don’t see anyone who looks like us.”
Haaland is scheduled to be sworn in Wednesday. In addition to being the first American Indian to run the Interior Department, she will be the third woman to run the agency and the first American Indian to hold a Cabinet-level position.